Over the past decade the population growth in sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) has outpaced electricity access efforts. By the end
of 2013, only 43% of the SSA population had access to electricity,
with the result that the increase in demand did not match
expansion plans for renewable energy across all sectors. This
remains one of the main challenges across the sub-Saharan
region. The strong interconnection between climate change and
energy access policy is not reflected adequately in the political
debate yet. Unstable policy frameworks and rapidly changing
renewable energy support schemes have led to financing challenges
as investors are wary of regressive policies and the negative
effect they have on investments. However over the past five
years an increasing number of SSA countries are establishing
policy frameworks, which are leading to substantial increases in
national renewable energy markets.